The Election Is Over, But Your Ability To Take Power Isn’t

The greatest power comes not from the ballot box, but from within.

The 2024 U.S. election is over. Former President Donald Trump will return to the White House. For some, the news brings up fear, anger, and hopelessness. For others, joy, hope, and cause for celebration are at the forefront. There are also those who feel indifferent or neutral, waking up to sip their morning coffee with the same feelings towards their country—and the world—that they carried in the days and weeks preceding. 

I sit drinking hot cacao in Sweden, myself a Canadian. Some might argue I don’t have skin in the game, wondering why I’m writing this. I could say that U.S. policies and cultural narratives ripple throughout the world (and certainly north of the border to my homeland). Therefore, in one way or another, I am impacted by the result of this election. Also, for the past few years, I’ve watched Western media become increasingly polarized and biased while promoting doomsday narratives. Unfortunately, the culture U.S. elections create now affects all of us across the Western world. 

Trump’s return to the White House isn’t up for debate, even if some might argue with it. Given that it's non-negotiable, we have to ask ourselves: Where do we go from here?

Will we let this outcome dictate our lives and outlook for the next four years or will we choose to reclaim our individual sovereignty, playing our part in crafting the life and world we long for—regardless of who is president?

My preference would be that more of us do the latter, recognizing our sovereignty amidst collective chaos. In order to do that though, we first have to be able to step outside whatever echo chamber we’re in.

Whether we learn about what’s happening in the world through CNN, NBC, or Fox News—or from media outlets outside the U.S., like the CBC, BBC, or Al Jazeera—we’re presented with certain interpretations of political figures and events, shaped by individual or organizational biases. Media coverage of Kamala Harris’ campaign has looked strikingly different from that of Donald Trump’s, with strong biases apparent on each side. Is Harris a trailblazing leader, or someone who would have upheld the status quo? Is Trump a danger to democracy, or a decisive leader aiming to restore it? The answers depend on what sources you get your news from with different outlets painting wildly different pictures of these figures.

For example, in Wednesday’s election aftermath, a CNN headline read, “His projected victory hands the president-elect massive, disruptive influence at home and will send shockwaves around the world.” In contrast, Fox News wrote, “President-elect Trump vows to usher in ‘golden age of America’ after White House win.” The former evokes a sense of impending crisis while the latter reinforces the vision of a bright future. The difference might seem trivial, but when the same bias pervades article after article, it shapes public perception by presenting a narrow view of reality.

However, it’s not only the media’s responsibility to start reporting with less bias. We have our own biases, too, and it’s our job to shine a light on them. We tend to consume news that confirms our pre-existing beliefs, which means our perspectives don’t get challenged. On top of that, we have a “negativity bias” wired into our biology. Historically, this bias (which leads us to notice threats more readily than neutral or positive events) was a survival mechanism, helping our ancestors avoid danger. Today, however, even those of us who live in relative safety are vulnerable to having this bias exploited by media companies.

In 2023, global net advertising revenue hit a whopping $853 billion. The attention economy is indeed big business. Since negative information commands more of our attention than positive information, this—along with our craving for dopamine—incentivizes media outlets to sensationalize events. They push narratives that keep us glued to our screens, even though it costs us our capacity for balanced, critical thinking. After all, what could be more captivating than doomsday narratives, where one political leader or another is portrayed as an existential threat to the entire world?

The negative consequences of these sensationalized narratives are vast. For starters, they fuel division and threaten societal cohesion. They leave us less likely to trust or find any value in what someone on the other side of the political aisle has to say. And as narratives become increasingly extreme, they sacrifice nuance, which is ultimately a distortion of truth. Our minds are hijacked for clicks, likes, and political gain at the expense of what’s real and complex.

Doomscrolling also comes at the expense of our well-being, linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes. The constant outrage and despair can leave us feeling hopeless, stripped of our power to make meaningful change in our lives. We end up throwing all of our energy and hope behind a political figure or party while neglecting the power we hold to shape our own lives.

But the truth of the matter is this: neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump can or will save you. And that’s where we come to the ultimate choice—whether we’re pleased with the election outcome or not.

This is where we can either lean back in despair, lean back because our savior is here, or leap forward into a life we consciously craft for ourselves and our communities.

I’m not here to suggest that policies and political leaders have no impact on the lives of their constituents. I’m not here to suggest you shouldn’t have an opinion about who the best leader of your nation would be. You are also entitled to your natural emotional response to the election result, and you have your reasons for responding that way. I certainly have my fair share of opinions, including about this election, but what matters is where we stand in relation to those opinions and emotions. Do they dictate our lives and leave us feeling powerless, or do we live in wise relationship with them, using them as catalysts rather than roadblocks?

Reclaiming our sovereignty in the midst of collective chaos is a radical choice. It means recognizing that even when the world around us seems out of control, even when our external circumstances are not going how we want them to go, we are responsible for how we feel and behave. It’s about choosing to stand firm in our values and focusing on ways we can take back control over our own lives. It requires actively choosing how we respond to external events, regardless of the storm around us.

It’s easier to forfeit our power to some external force than to claim it as our own. To call back our power requires that we step back from media-driven cycles of anxiety, despair, and outrage, instead taking action to build a life we love. It’s no small ask since most of us are conditioned to crave the immediate dopamine rewards of media consumption. Each click, scroll, and headline that promises new drama or doom triggers dopamine release; quite literally, we are addicted to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that provides feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. 

Taking back control over our lives when our media and tech companies would rather us stay outraged and hopeless is, in part, about reclaiming our neural pathways and making conscious choices about where we place our attention and how we seek out satisfaction and fulfillment. Our commitment to this inner work restores a sense of self-control and enables us to place our energy where we can create positive life changes for ourselves and our communities.

Our work begins when we’re able to pause and become more aware of how we think, feel, and act. Few words better encapsulate this than those often attributed to Viktor E. Frankl:

“Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.”

We need to get better at hitting pause before: consuming another article about the political leader we detest, posting an angry and unkind comment on a stranger’s Instagram post about the election, or uninviting a family member to the holiday meal because of who they voted for. We need to practice giving ourselves space to be with and soften our strong emotional reactions before allowing them to dictate our lives and fracture our relations with others.

Making the decision to not demean, discount, or hurl insults at people you disagree with is a radical act when we live in a system that thrives on division. A divided population is distracted by a belief that their disagreeable brother, neighbour, or colleague is the cause of their woes. This enables powerful institutions and leaders to maintain the status quo without addressing the root causes of the troubles we face. “Divide and rule” is an ancient strategy, but we’re no stranger to it today.

But restoring our sense of agency goes beyond unplugging our news feeds and avoiding content that triggers instant gratification. It includes making an empowered choice to befriend those we disagree with and get curious about what they know that we don’t.

It means recognizing that real freedom and change are possible—regardless of who’s in office. It’s a process of witnessing and unraveling the belief systems and ideologies that keep us stuck in victimhood.

The suggestion that we be kinder to one another and make attempts at understanding is not an idealistic, impractical solution to the challenges we face. Had we, in the years preceding this one, become adept at listening to one another, granting opposing opinions genuine curiosity, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in today. Some people love Trump and others love Harris, but a lot would have loved a better option. There could have been better choices if more of us were committed to sense-making, nuance-seeking, and thinking critically about the narratives we’re fed. 

To begin unraveling unhelpful beliefs and ideologies, we can start asking ourselves questions like: Am I served or drained by ongoing outrage? What can I do today to free myself, regardless of external circumstances? Does the information I consume empower or disempower me? Do I care more about being right or understanding? Am I focused on problems or am I working towards solutions?

No political leader has sufficient power to determine the course of our lives. They may very well have an impact on the circumstances around us, but they cannot control how we relate to those circumstances or what we do about them. True power comes from within, if we’re willing to stand in it. It rests in our willingness to overcome knee-jerk reactions and conditioned ways of relating to the world and to instead choose empowered responses to things we dislike or disagree with.

It should go without saying that this applies not just to those in the United States. No matter who you are or where you live, we can all take a bigger step back from the narratives we’re spoon-fed and focus on strengthening our personal power. Imagine what our world might look like if more of us stopped playing the blame game and instead met the conflicts we face with curiosity, self-responsibility, and maturity.

So whether you love Trump, can’t stand him, or fall somewhere in the middle, now’s the time to find the power within rather than waiting for the right political outcome.

The moment we stop looking to our leaders to deliver us hope is the moment we might find it within.

We can all step back, critically evaluate the narratives handed down to us, and ask ourselves what we can do that truly serves us—as individuals and as a collective. 

Because whether we’re pleased with the election results or not, we each have the power to cast ripples throughout the world, ripples that reflect the values we want to see more of. If we all embraced this power, we could generate a wave more meaningful and enduring than any single politician, policy, or election outcome. That’s a revolution we all have the power to create.